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25 April 2011

Review: Supernatural 6.18 Back to the Future III

Long time readers of my blog have known my obsession with the legend of the Colt. I really dig the connection between the show's mytho and Samuel Colt. In my opinion, he was the unsung hero of the story, I thought I would never get to see him on screen. Supernatural 6.18 Frontierland was definitely the most anticipated episode this season in my book for many reasons. Frontierland was an unique episode for Supernatural. It was written by Jackson Stewart, Andrew Dabb, and Daniel Loflin, directed by Guy Bee. Guy is probably the only known Supernatural crew member on Twitter and he's been tweeting photos from the set since the shooting began. You can imagine how excited I have been since the announcement of Frontierland.

Unlike Amy and Nicole (please visit their reviews by the way), I am not a big fan of the Western genre. I read Stephen King's Gunslinger, I watched Flirefly, Back to the Future III and the trailer of Gang of New York. That's as far as Western goes for me. I guess I was more intrigued to see how Samuel Colt would fit into the story. Three of my favorite things are in this episode: (1) Samuel Colt (2) the time-travel (3) the Back to the Future references. I got a lot more out of this episode than I expected.

WIN #1 -- Authenticity & Location

The episode is really well done on many levels. Authenticity is definitely a winner -- from the very Western Supernatural opening to smelly stuff underneath Sam's shoe; from the look and feel of Sunrise, Wyoming to the production music and the people.

Sunrise, Wyoming was a quiet Western town with a small population, it certainly wasn't busy. If you're looking for more gunslinging and bar fighting, you won't find it here. I guess the location is perfect for the budget of the show. Say if the setting was in New York like Gang of New York, you kinda have to build a bigger set and hire more extras due to the nature of the location.
WIN #2 -- Dean's Disneyland

I love how going Western made Dean happy. It was probably the only time he didn't mind not going back to his year at all, because he was so in love with the genre. It's funny to see Dean discovered the Colt Journal and he wasn't willing to let anyone touching it. Dean was such as fanboy of Samuel Colt! Dean in this episode reminded me very much the Dean in season 1. The fun-loving Dean, the master of one-liners and every smart-ass remark. It's happy to see Dean happy. The cowboy look suited Dean and he looked good. But Elkins disagreed :)

On the contrary, Sam disliked the idea going Western. To be honest, Sam didn't look as good as Dean as a cowboy. I wonder if Elkins would agree with me?

WIN #3 -- A Phoenix: River, Joaquin or the One in Dumbledore's Office?

Elias Finch (aka the Phoenix) was played by Matthew John Armstrong, who was also on Heroes. Unlike the demons, Finch/ the Phoenix wasn't a complete evil creature. I like that about him. He took justice into his own hands because his innocent human wife was killed the so-called good guys and he was accused by them. There was an Anakin Skywalker vibe to it -- 'I lost with my wife and now I'll go dark side and kill younglings.'

Finch was the reason Dean and Sam went back in time after they found out the ashes of the Phoenix could burn the Mother. Nice! I like that too. Let's hope the phoenix ashes would really work on the Mother.

WIN #4 -- Castiel and Rachel

I know this isn't the Easter spirit, but Rachel was annoying and she was a waste of time. Although Rachel was Castiel's lieutenant, but she was certainly not a human-loving angel.

OK, here is an observational thing: many angels the boys met were human haters. Except Castiel, Anna, Joshua in heaven, the Cherub in My Bloody Valentine and perhaps Balthazar, other angels weren't fans of humans, the way they talked to humans was disrespectful. But Castiel never disrespected humans, even from his first appearance on the show. It wasn't his nature to look down on humans. I think this is a very important point to remember. I believe Castiel's heart was not a bad one but I am afraid poor execution and lies might cause him the friendship with the Winchesters and more.

The power source stuff gives me the chill. Castiel scares me and I think he scares himself too. And he is feeling incredibly guilty. Again, I hope this is a test for strength of character and I hope his plan will pay off.

Oh.. one more thing.. it's been short and forgetful, but goodbye Rachel, your service is no longer required.

WIN #5 - SAMUEL COLT

Samuel Colt was best known for making the Colt, building the giant Devil's Trap and the Devil's Gate in Wyoming during 1800s. What did we find out from this episode? A number of significant information…

* According to earlier episodes of Supernatural, Samuel Colt made the gun in 1835, not 1861. So Samuel Colt had the gun for a long time since 1835. He still hadn't disappeared with it in 1861!

* Random Demon #1 said to Samuel Colt: 'We know you built the Devil's Gate. Open it for us.' So the demons had been eyeing on the Gate since 1861 (or could be longer). We knew one of Azazel's plans were to get his hands on the Colt and to open the Devil's gate with it. But this was the first time these words were said out loud.

* According to Frontierland, the Devil's Gate had already been built (because the demons were looking for it). It seemed Samuel Colt had already completed the railway Devil's Trap too. But here's the thing -- if Samuel Colt's house was inside the devil's trap, then demons couldn't get to him, so may be he hadn't finished building the Devil's Trap. Or perhaps he was still working on it and that was why he had not disappeared yet!

My point is, why hadn't Samuel Colt disappeared? The Colt was created, the Devil's Gate and the Devil's Trap were already built, but Samuel Colt was still around and he wasn't disappearing. It was already the year 1861.

Sam could well be the reason (or at least one of the contributing factors) of Samuel Colt's disappearance, the gun along with him. It was possible that Samuel Colt went into hiding because he knew about the future from Sam. To be more specific, perhaps Samuel Colt disappeared to hide the ashes.

And on the side note, how much do you think Sam told him about the future?

* We now know the Colt was used before it got to Elkins. Two bullets were used by Samuel Colt when he shot the two demons in his house; one bullet was used by Dean when he shot the Phoenix at high noon. Other bullets were used by Elkins and his descendants as well as all the Winchesters boys in modern time -- John used it on Luther the vampire; Sam shot John's leg with the Colt; Dean used it on Azazel's son and Azazel himself.

How the Elkins got their hands on the gun and managed to keep it until now? I suspect perhaps Elkins saw what happened at high noon, Dean dropped the Colt on the ground and Elkins picked it up and hid it; hoping it would protect him from the evil. But we also knew Samuel Colt went back to Sunrise, Wyoming to pick up the ashes, perhaps he did pick up the gun and had it for a little longer? I guess this would be another story for another time.

Samuel Colt the character did not disappoint. He was one cool dude. I don't watch Western but he really reminded me of Clint Eastwood. There was no fear in his eyes. He stayed very composed when the demons walked in. He was quick. He didn't freak out like the Doc when Marty told him about the future. All Samuel Colt cared about was the Whiskey (Bobby and Rufus would love him). He called Sam 'the giant from the future'! And the best thing was he knew how to use a Blackberry!! (It would've been super-awesome if it was an iPhone.) By the way, Sam's address shouldn't be on the phone, because it hadn't happened. But that's another discussion.

I would have loved to see more of Samuel Colt and his backstory. But that's just me. The story of Samuel Colt cannot be forgotten and I hope we will get another episode on Samuel Colt and his legacy in season 7.

The only thing I am disappointed was that Dean didn't get to meet Samuel Colt. I would have loved to see the three off them (Samuel, Dean and Sam) to be in the same scene.

WIN #6 - The Back to the Future Ending

I love the Back to the Future ending! I love it! I screamed out loud "Oh my God, they are going to do a Back to the Future"… "Oh my God, they just did a Back to the Future". I love it so much!!! I would so not mind if the entire episode was a Back to the Future rip. I know, I am sad!

I think the ending was an awesome win!!!!!! Thank you for writing that scene in.

WIN (or WTF) #7 -- The Waffle House Free Stuff Banner & Shia LaBeouf

Because I watched Smallville before Supernatural, so the Waffle House free stuff ad was super annoying! But I am sad and I checked out the Waffle House website. Shia LaBeouf is on their home page.

Overall, I love Frontierland. I thought it was really well done. I am doing a rewatch on Twitter on May 15 with my Twitter friends. The theme is the Colt, we are revisiting all the Colt heavy episodes including Frontierland. Details here and I hope you can join us.

2 comments:

Tiny!!!!!!!! The waffle house banner! You kill me. It was so annoying! And Shia is on their website, you know I'm going to look now don't you! Ok, more serious stuff. I love you love for Colt. This was a very comprehensive look at his place in the mythos of Supernatural, thankyou. I really dug him too, I dug how unphased he was ny Sam and everything! I'd love to know more. How awesome they have his journal. They should release a copy for us to read like they did with John's journal! This episode was fantastic. So beautiful made. Everything I love about this show. Cas will find redemption because as you say he loves humans, as the giant from the future once said about his big bro, when push shove Cas will make the right decision. Whatever his destiny, we'll be left with love in our hearts. Great review Tiny!

The reason that Dean would only want to deal with Cas, is that Dean trusts Cas, he doesn't know Rachel and being he has had many problems with other angels in the past and Cas is the only angel that one has ever been on Dean's side and two helped him in many situations in the past, means that Dean isn't just going trust any other angel. Even if Cas sent her, as she says. Dean doesn't know that is true. Dean has never dealt with her before, so why would Dean trust her. Dean trusts Cas and therefore would rely on Cas when they need something.